Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa possibly died nine days before they were found Wednesday.
While the cause behind the deaths is still unknown as no bad game or carbon monoxide poisoning was discovered with carbon monoxide at a preliminary autopsy, further study revealed that Hackman’s Pacemaker stopped working on February 17 – which means he may have died nine days earlier, per. Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza.
Authorities do not think the home had any surveillance cameras, Mendoza said at a news conference.
The retired Chief Medical Examiner in Arizona Dr. Philip Keen also shared insight into the incident and explained that the moment a pacemaker stops working could mark the point when a person dies but not always.
“If your heart demanded a pacemaker, there would definitely be an interruption at the time – and that could be characteristic of when the death took place,” AP quoted eagerly. “But it’s not necessarily because some people get a pacemaker to increase things, not necessarily replace things.”
The results of toxicological tests are expected to be completed in the coming weeks, which could reveal whether the pills found scattered on the spot were a factor in their deaths.
Investigators who searched for home -hired medicines that treat high blood pressure and chest pain, thyroid medicine, tylenol and posts from medical diagnosis tests showed court posts on Friday.
The couple was found after a maintenance worker who showed up to do routine work in the house could not come in and called a security worker who then discovered two people on the ground, Mendoza said.
One of their dogs was also found dead in a closet, while two other dogs in the home remained healthy.
